Combat Boots and Flip Flops

Monday, June 20, 2011

This mission was doomed from the start for me. Yesterday we spent all day at the camp doing touchy feelings crap, which for the record there is noting that I hate more at work. Picture this if you will, a group of men with a few women thrown in the mix sitting around talking about their feelings about work....can I pass on this one? Thanks!!

As I sit here writing this there is a conversation going on behind my tent about sex, edible underwear and food.....WELCOME TO MY WORLD!!! I did inform the guys that no, edible underwear is not a food and therefore will not count as a meal, despite the flavor of it.

So in 1st formation today we found out that our mission has changed and we are to stand tight and wait for further guidance.....um, in English that means we have nothing to do in this African dessert.....

So here I am stuck a million miles away from home living in a tent, eating MRE's three times a day and haven't had a shower or real bathroom in well over a week.

All I want to do is work, what I joined the Army to do instead, we are tasked with cleaning our tents (we all have our own tent) and more team building.....ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!!!

So we boarded the buses and were escorted through the country, despite being briefed that this was a high profile mission, we quickly began to question that theory because every town we went through we would go at break neck speeds and cars were literally at times shoved off the roads. The scenes in the towns were something out of the movies. Meat hanging in the shops, men sitting in cafes, women in head dresses and shopping. At times this all felt surreal except for the fact that I was the one on the bus in the ACU's jet lagged.

We drove through all sorts of terrain, mountains, desserts, cities, small remote villages, like I was on a quick whirlwind tour of a 3rd world country and we had to get it all in in a short amount of time.

Monday, May 30, 2011

So we left Friday afternoon, we went to a military airport and waited for a few hours. The over here was about 7 hours. It was a commercial flight chartered for the military and we got to Morocco about 0700 the next day. We flew into rain, rain in Africa?!? Yes, this was my thought as we began to offload the plane. We deplane and board buses to go to customs and once we get over to the building we have to locate our ruck and duffel and form up. My ruck alone easily weights over 50 lbs. so managing all this is no small feat for me. We verify all our bags and then immediately reload them back onto the trailer that they were just off loaded from...yep that is the army for ya!! This whole process took a little over an hour and once we are done loading the bags they tell us that we can utilize the latrines before we in process to the country. Finally, a little bit of good news cause this girl has got to go!! Now, keep in mind that we are in a 3rd world Muslim country and I am noting more than a small town Kansas girl. So I make my way into the building with my battle and we start to stand in a long line, when someone with rank pulls all the females out of line and brings us to the front. They are going to let the handful of us on this trip use the facilities first. Ahhh, what sweet guys that is what you are thinking right?

So we go into the bathrooms and are meet with stalls and sinks with mirrors, the little comforts of home so far away right, this mission might not be so bad after all!!! I walk to the middle stall and open the door.....my jaw hit the floor, a pit formed in the bottom of my stomach and immediately i knew that I wasn't in Kansas anymore!!!

I am facing nothing more than a hole in the ground with two ridges where one would place the feet and at the front of the stall is a bucket and spicket.....wow..... speechless...sure we have all heard about the stories of this happening but have any of us really experience this first hand? I have now....

I peed in a hole, I dropped the acu's, grabbed the back and tilted the booty and went.....I can say that peeing in a hole for the first time was a great success and there was little to no splashing....hey I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!!!

So peeing in a hole is how I start this African adventure, what more is to come....or dare I even ask?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

When I joined the Army, I joined with the intent of going officer at some point early in my career, and then the first two years were tough on me, mostly physically and I had more surgeries than days at work. So the dream of wearing the bars were put on the back burner and I focused on healing and making it back to work in one complete working piece.

So I have been profile free for a few months now and the time has come to make some big decisions that are in fact going to change the way our family is.

I need to decide wheter I want to stay in the ranks and wait closer to my re-enlistment time and put in for a age waiver and go OCS or if I want to jump all in feet first and not look and apply for green to gold.

OCS is Officer Candide School this is like basic training for officers, they learn to be leaders and get put through the wringer, its like basic training all over again!! And while I impressed myself the first go around, I never really look forward to living it all over again. I shudder at the thought of coming down on drill sergeant orders!!

The other is green to gold, green being a private and enlisted and going to an officer which is what the gold is. This process is a matter of being actively enrolled in a college, half way done with a four year degree and applying, going before a board and then being accepted into school.

I am digging the green to gold option because I can be a full time college student, get promoted to Sgt and be commissioned right after I graduate. This commitment is a 6 year commitment but at this stage in the game, the length of time is irrelevant being as I plan of this stage of the game making the Army my career....I am no longer a spring chicken.

So I have some pretty heavy stuff on my plate and I have some talking to do with the Sgt....he will support me in whatever I decide, but its just getting to the decision.....I hope I come to it soon, I have some serious goal achieving ahead of me!!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Today seriously sucked....I mean in a huge way!! It was our first day back after christmas which is never a good thing, but to top it off there was a snow storm and the roads still had a amount of snow and ice and from the evidence all over the roads the drivers out here don't know how to drive on the white shiny stuff....guess its a good thing that I am a midwest girl and driving on the snow is like second nature to me.

So back to the crappy day. I made it into work only to ice skate through the parking lot to check in, followed by skating back to the car to sit in the warmth for the next 20 minutes before we had to go form up 15 minutes prior to actually have a formation time (side note here, in the military 15 minutes early is on time and on time is late and the first sgt who holds formation is 15 minutes AFTER the said time but is NEVER late...you do the math!) so I proceeded to stand in freezing cold weather wearing combat boots that were not waterproof and well there was snow on the ground so I started off the day with wet toes....I was cold and miserable!! Standing in one spot not moving, and having wet boots, listening to the 1st Sgt ramble on about who was there and who wasn't there....and blah blah blah, all the while I could only think about how my toes were going to fall off and may never walk properly again!!

So after standing and freezing the said toes off, we were sent down to the ice land that once was our motor pool....the motor pool had not been touched and under the snow was a nice layer of ice....and again my boots were wet. I am not digging this tuesday which was our monday.

So we had to "walk the line" and do "command maintenance" all the while trying to understand why were the only company working when most were off because of the weather. That is a head scratcher right there.

So here we are, at the motor pool doing command maintenance and I go to work on my generator...and lookie here the damn thing is still broken, not only broken but completely deadline (meaning that it won't work at all) the battery line has been cut and remains cut and has been this way for the past month...yes Sgt, I did notate this on the 5988 and the jackass who is suppose to fix this issue hasn't done so!! Thanks a whole lot!

I go to bring this issue up to the E-6 in charge and well I guess in his Army world, he is more interested in chasing tail of a young 23 year old than work real issues within his platoon....news flash Sgt Doucher....the whole company knows that you and little girl are hooking up and I am sure that your wife knows the same...its not like you don't live on post and for that matter a few blocks from your little piece of tail!!

So the issue wasn't fixed, I couldn't get any real help and being a female in the Army today totally blew....

Oh well tomorrow is another day to try to break the glass ceiling right? Oh and to wear two pairs of socks and some boots that are weather proof, then again it could be in the 50's and I won't need any of the above!!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

I realize that being in the military, there are certain things that we are and are not allowed to talk about and well that is just par for the course I guess, do I always like it, no not really especially since I have my opinions and views that I am never afraid to express but I live with it, what other choice do I have?

But while having one of the most stimulating conversations with my husband last night I had a ahhhh haaa moment, and something hit me....and I really felt at peace with it when all the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Let me share with you. We as a country have been fighting wars since our birth, most of the time on foreign lands. We have always been a volunteer military, meaning that we are not forced as citizens to join under normal situations. There are always exceptions to the rule, like during WWII and Viet Nam. But in general we are a volunteer military, with that being said, it blows my mind that so many men and women have given the selfless sacrifice of the life they had for this country. Its such and honorable thing, and I am time and time again in awe of it.

What I asked my husband (aka my Sgt.) was how is it to be over on foreign land fighting risking life and limb when you know that not everyone supports the cause you may be fighting for? I know that not everyone believes in the wars going on, yet they still stand among us in the ranks. The answer that he gave me made perfect sense and only made my commitment to what I do that much stronger.

We are not fighting for a cause at the end of the day. We are fighting for the guys (meaning men and women) to our left and right. We would do anything for our families, this doesn't change on foreign land, just the fact that your family is the ones who are with you serving and fighting. You give your life so that your buddy doesn't have to. So he can go home and spend another day with his wife and kids or her husband and kids. This made perfect sense.

I would give my life limb or whatever else to save and protect my family. And yes, when we are down range those that we deploy with ARE our family, we laugh, cry, fight, and live with these people sometimes for 15 months...you can't help but to have that type of bond with them.

So really at the end of the day does the cause matter? What the people in the big white house think is in our nations best interest does that really matter? Or does the guy to your left and right matter? His life and his well being, that is all that we really care about in the here and now....let the politicians in the Capital deal with all the rest, we will fight and take care of our own and live life the way that few understand but make perfect sense to us....

Maybe that what makes the military and the military family stand above the rest, we know what the value of life and family is....

About Me

I am wife, mother, sister, friend and solider...I love to dance in the rain, walk barefoot in the sand, feel the sun on my face, sing off key, read a good book, and be with my family. I am a simple girl who loves hard and laughs often.